Foot conforming shoe upper



Nov. 8, 1960 s. HUBERMAN FOOT CONFORMING SHOE UPPER Filed Oct. 28, 1959 M m5. 5 V0 H M m Unit S 2,958,966 Patented Nov. 8, 1960 FOOT CONFORMING SHOE UPPER Sam Huberman, Marhlehead, Mass., assignor to Schwartz & Benjamin, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 849,271

3 Claims. (Cl. 36-51) manner that its upper edge will have a close conforming fit with 'thefoot, to thereby eliminate any unsightly gaps between the foot and the upper edge of the upper. Among the many expedients intended to overcome this difiiculty, has been that of making the upper of a very flexible material. However, even with this expedient, the upper material tends to become folded or waved so that the gaps are still present. While it has been proposed to use drawstrings, either of elastic or non-elastic material, to secure a tight fit of the upper edge of the shoe around the foot, such constructions as hitherto proposed have been characterized by being unsightly and not having the desired fashionable appearance.

In accordance with the present invention, these difficulties are overcome in a novel manner by constructing the upper sothat, from one counter portion edge forwardly around the instep encompassing portion edge and back to the other counter portion, the upper periphery of the upper is formed as a series of closely adjacent loops through .Which is freely threadedan elongated elastic element, secured at each end to'the respective ends of the counter in a stretched condition. These loops are so interrelated and arranged that, when the shoe is removed from the foot, the adjacent l'o'ops'areheld in abutment'or contiguous relation by the elastic element, presenting a continuous upper periphery for the upper. When the shoe is placed on the foot, the expansion is such that the loops are only very slightly spread apart from each other so that the overall effect is still that of a continuous seam along the upper edge of the shoe upper.

More particularly, that portion of the inner or upper periphery of the upper which encompasses the instep of the foot is formed with a plurality of inwardly extending outwardly opening slits, and rearwardly of this portion the opposite sides of the upper, adjacent the inner edge thereof, are formed with a series of parallel closed slits. In forming the upper, this upper periphery is folded over to form a hem or margin. The folding is done in such a manner that the closed slits then provide loops separated from each other along a portion of the periphery. The open slits, at the portion of the upper which encompasses the instep, form tabs which, after being folded down upon each other, are covered by a binder which secures the free ends of the tabs to the body of the upper and provides the same type of loops which are present in that portion of the upper extending from each end of the portion which encompasses the instep back to the counters.

An elastic cord or the like is drawn through all the loops and secured at each end to the respective ends of the counter portion of the upper so as normally to maintain the loops closed on each other. When this upper is in corporated into a shoe, the inner or upper periphery thereof has a very attractive appearance which is not characterized by the aforementioned gaps and the like and, in eifect, looks like a continuous beaded edge extending from one counter edge around the portion encompassing the instep and back to the other counter edge.

For an understanding of the invention principles, reference is made to the following description of a typical embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the upper blank before being shaped;

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the upper blank illustrating the construction in an intermediate stage thereof, and with the loops expanded;

Fig. 3'is a partial plan view of the upper, corresponding to Fig. 2, and showing the loops in the contracted or closed condition;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of a shoe incorporating the upper of the present invention.

' Referring to Fig. 1, an upper 10 is shown as formed from a somewhat horseshoe shape blank of flexible and pliable material such as, for example, natural or artificial leather or leather-like substances. For example, instead of natural or artificial leather, the blank may be formed of a suitable plastic composition material.

Upper blank 19 is shown as having an inner or upper periphery 11, an outer or lower periphery 12, heel peripheries 13, and a toe and instep encompassing portion 14. The peripheries 13 are adapted to be stitched together to shape the counter and heel portion of the upper, and the toe portion 14 may be of any desired configuration and may be seamed or not in accordance with the desired type of shoe to be formed. The particular manner of seaming together the peripheries 13 and of forming the toe and instep encompassing portion 14 is of no consequence to the principles of the present invention.

In accordance with the invention, a series of substantially radial open ended slits 15 are formed around the arcuate portion of inner periphery 11, this being what will be termed the instep encompassing portion. Rearwardly of this arcuate portion, periphery 11 is substantially rectilinear or very slightly curved. Along this portion of its extent, a series of closed end slots 20 are formed in the upper 10 adjacent the periphery 11, these slots being relatively shorter than the open ended slots 15, and substantially perpendicular to periphery 11. Each series of slots 20 extends from an end of the are along which the open ended slots 15 are formed to a forward edge of the counter portion of the upper.

Next, the peripheral portion 11 of upper 10 is folded inwardly on itself, as indicated in Fig. 2, and stitched to the main body of the upper as indicated at 21. Referring to Fig. 4, the stitching is done in such a manner that the closed parallel slots 20 have their ends coterminous, thus forming a series of loops 25 separated by the narrow slots 20. Rearwardly of the series of loops 25, the periphery 11 is doubled in on itself again and stitched by seaming 22 which also serves to secure in position the ends of an elastic cord 30 described more fully hereinafter.

Preferably in advance of forming a seam 21, a tape 16 or the like is placed over the turned-in tabs provided by the open ended slots 15, these turned-in tabs being designated at 17. Tape 16 is then secured to the body of blank 10 by a line of stitching indicated at 18 which also secures the tabs 17 to the body of the upper. Seam 18 may be a continuation of scam 21 or may be a separate seam. There are thus formed a series of loops 35 extending around the instep encompassing portion of the upper. These loops 35 are, of course, separated from each other by the open ended slots 15 of Fig. 1.

Preferably in advance of the folding in of the peripheral margin 11 to form the loops 25 and 35, and elastic cord 30 is laid around the upper parallel to and spaced slightly from the peripheral margin 11. Thereby, when the peripheral margin is folded in and seamed to form the loops 25 and 35, the elastic cord 30 is enclosed within the loops and extends from one edge of the counter of the upper around the instep and back to the other edge of the counter. The ends of cord 30 are secured in position by-the stitching 21 or 22, which may be a continuous line of stitching, and in such a manner that the cord 30 is under tension and thereby pulls the loops 25 and 35 toward each other to close the slots 15 and .as indicated in Fig. 3. The cord 30 is preferably of the same color and essentially the same texture, on itsouter surface, as the rest of upper 10 so that it is substantially inconspicuous.

The upper is now shaped and closed in the usual manner and secured to a sole 23 which has a heel 24 associated therewith to form the completed shoe shown in Fig. 5. The shaping of the upper is completed .by closing the peripheral margins 13 by suitable stitching and, during completion of the shoe, the usual counter lining and insert (not shown) are placed on the inner surface of the blank '10 extending from substantially the ends of the series of loops 25 around the heel. As this particular constructional feature is common in the art, it has not been deemed necessary to show or describe the same.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 5, when the shoe is not on the foot, the elastic cord '30 maintains the loops 25 and 35 abutted with each other so as to close the respective slots 15 and 20 thus providing a continuous upper margin for the upper. When the shoe is placed on the foot, the cord is somewhat stretched so that the loops tend to separate very slightly. However, this slight separation is substantially inconspicuous and generally not noticeable. Nevertheless, the provision of the elastic cord extending freely through the loops 25 and assures the upper margin of the upper having a close conforming fit around the foot of the wearer. The result is an attractive and comfortable shoe which has, in effect, a tailored fit on the upper portion of the wearers foot due to the elastic margin of the upper.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the invention principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

l. A shoe upper of pliable material, having an upper and a lower periphery, the upper periphery comprising a series of closely adjacent loops integral with the material and extending between the two forward edges of the counter portion of the upper around the instep encompassing portion of the upper; an elongated elastic element extending freely through said loops and secured only at each end of the two forward edges of the counter portion of the upper under tension to maintain the loops in abutment; said element stretching to provide for slight separation of the loops while maintaining the upper periphery in conforming fit with the foot of a wearer.

2. A shoe upper as claimed in claim 1 in which said loops are formed by a series of narrow slits along the upper periphery and extending substantially perpendicular thereto, the upper periphery being turned inwardly and stitched to the main body of the upper to provide said series of loops separated by said narrow slits.

3. A shoe upper as claimed in claim 1 in which the loops extending around the instep encompassing portion or" the upper are formed by tabs separated .by slitsopening outwardly through the upper periphery; and the loops extending between the ends of the instep encompassing portionof the upper and the forward edges of the counter portion thereof are provided by a series of narrow slots along the upper periphery and spaced downwardly therefrom and extending substantially perpendicular thereto, the portion of the upper periphery having such slots being turned inwardly and stitched to the main body of the upper to provide a series of loops separated by narrow slits.

References Cited in the file ,of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,110,624 Guiffre Sept. 15, .1914 2,059,747 Roberts V,. V ,Nov. 3, 1936 2,223,339 De Liso Dec. 3, 1940 2,228,065 Sbicca Jan. 7, 1,941 2,240,816 Tweedie May 6, 1941 2,280,622 Brewin ,Apr. 21, 1942 2,293,370 Tweedie Aug. 18,1942 2,361,675 Atkins Oct. 31, 1944 

